BATON ROUGE- Changes to the way the City of Baton Rouge comes to collect for past-due parking tickets is in motion.

A committee of the Metro Council okayed bringing the "boot and tow" method back, as a way to get people to pay parking tickets.

The new law would allow the city to put a boot on a vehicle, and have it towed, if it's parked illegally, and the driver has at least one outstanding parking ticket on the books. If the car is parked legally, you get a warning first. If your car is booted, or towed, to get it back you'll pay the ticket, the late fee, any court fines, the towing charge and the cost of storing your car.

The city says it's losing more than a quarter-million dollars from almost 60,000 outstanding parking tickets.

Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Walker says the city can use the money to buy boots for enforcement, prevent budget cuts and pay for more efforts against crime.